At Monday’s Town Council meeting the Fort Myers Beach Town Attorney was directed to write a letter to FEMA showing support for businesses in trailers on the island and requesting FEMA give them a direct answer about their future.
FEMA says it wants the trailers out by November 18th. Mayor Dan Allers said, “People have been punched in the face too many times. The timing of this is irresponsible from FEMA. For them to not at least look at this and see that it is outside of Hurricane season. This is how people make their money, this next three months. They understand they need to be out before next hurricane season.”
Town Manager Andy Hyatt pushed back stating that back in September the Town Council directed him to enforce a July directive from FEMA to get the trailers off the island by November 18th. He added that in an e-mail he received from FEMA last week, La Ola in Times Square was specifically targeted by FEMA. Hyatt said when FEMA came to town way back one place they talked about was La Ola. “It’s not like this came up a couple of months ago.”
Operations and Compliance Manager Frankie Kropacek added that when the Regional Manager from FEMA came to town he specifically singled out La Ola. The Times Square La Ola location includes a shipping container with a full bar and restrooms. There is also a food truck, outdoor tables and a live entertainment area. It’s located in the exact spot the business thrived for years when there was an actual building there. Hurricane Ian wiped out nearly every building in Times Square and there is no clear direction as to whether any new structures will ever be built there again.
Shortly before Hurricane Milton, La Ola owner Thomas Houghton prepared a video showing how he could remove his containers from Fort Myers Beach in a timely enough manner to beat the storm. Kropacek sent the video to the FEMA Manager in Atlanta and never heard a word back from him. He then went on to say that the town’s local FEMA rep that comes through town every week wants to know why this hasn’t been addressed. “For whatever reason, they are adamant that this needs to be done.”
The town has set up its own code process allowing businesses using trailers to go to a Magistrate and state their case. The big problem with that is it’s unlikely FEMA cares about the town’s Magistrate process. Hyatt said FEMA’s letter last week specifically stated that the town writing the businesses a notice of violation “is insufficient.” FEMA clearly wants the trailers removed, whether it’s hurricane season or not, which frustrates Allers. “This is the goal-post moving with FEMA. Nobody there gives you a straight answer.”
At stake here is the town’s National Flood Insurance Program and the 25% discount residents in that program receive. The Mayor has said on his Sunday show that it’s possible that FEMA could pull the discount on November 18th whether the trailers are removed or not. FEMA could also put the town on probation which most likely means the town will never receive the discount again and could be kicked out of the National Flood Insurance program completely.
Hyatt said he doesn’t think it will matter whether the trailers are moved or not. “I think this was predetermined months ago. Right after the storm FEMA wanted to do this. You will lose the 25% discount and be put on probation meaning you will never get another discount.”
The town has also been asking for help on this issue from Senator Rick Scott and Congressman Byron Donalds which hasn’t seemed to help extend the deadline for the beach businesses.
La Ola owner Tom Houghton tells Beach Talk Radio News that with the town writing a letter to FEMA he feels like the Town Council is fully behind him.
Be like Key West and forget FEMA altogether.
I would waste no more time with FEMA and get Governor DeSantis
or Congressman Scott involved so this matter becomes headline news.
Well, hopefully we can get changes after Nov. 2nd. Vote to get rid of the party of regulations and red tape….
Yes and yes
NFIP was established in 1968, but it’s cute you think the election would change NFIP’s community rating system by which flood insurance discounts are calculated.
If the NIFP is done away with on FMB, what does that mean for current homeowners with mortgages who are required to have flood insurance and were only able to get it through the NFIP? What will that do to future real estate buyers on FMB who need to finance in order to purchase a property? Will they either pay an exorbitant amount for flood insurance because they have to finance the property, or will they just be unable to get flood insurance and therefore unable to purchase property on FMB?
Cost of your flood insurance will go up 25%, the amount of the current discount.
You’d still be able to buy a policy with NFIP… just without the 25% discount.
As stringent as the criteria are for the 25% discount, imagine what communities who have the top rating (with a 45% discount!!) go through. Yikes.
We can’t go on as a trailer town. Has the owner presented any rebuild plans to the town? Is there not restaurant space available at Santini or Seagrape or on Old San Carlos that he could occupy?
Does this mean if FEMA refuses to discount insurance they will go away forever? Sounds like a win-win for the town and its property owners.
Dan and Town Council and Town management, FEMA has repeatedly given straight answers about this issue since Ian. Are trailers allowed? No. What can we do about the trailers? Do not permit them, remove them. Can we have non flood compliant trailers in use on the beach? No. What can be done so that FEMA agrees to allow trailers on the beach? Nothing, trailers are not allowed on the beach. Can an owner or business put a trailer on the beach? No. You are not listening and are not seeking to understand.
Jim, your response is not accurate. If you remember after Ian they were coming in like the Calvary with trailers for our displaced residents. Only to deliver and set one up and say, opps we didn’t realize you were in a flood zone. We have had several meetings with FEMA and they have always said as long as trailers are removable with a light duty truck then they are allowed. It even states it in their documentation. Now they are saying that is not good enough, but it’s still in their documentation. The problem is FEMA is trying to change their policy and procedure’s after the storms and are forcing municipalities to conform with their new rules, not the ones in place at the time Ian hit like they have repeatedly told us to do. We are not the only municipality dealing with this issue with FEMA. When they will not reply to a US Senator with answers on our behalf that should tell you everything you need to know. Their goal, in my opinion, is to completely do away with the NFIP program eventually and this is one step of that process.
Wow, that’s interesting and unsettling.
If NFIP were to go away, would that leave private flood insurance (which ultimately “connects” with NFIP as I understand it, albeit not well) as the only option?? Doubt that will be good for premiums.
Given that NFIP has caps of $250k/$100k, their insurance already seems expensive for not much: who can rebuild a house for $250k?
Thank you, Mayor, for advocating for Tom and La Ola. Tom’s investment of time and money to bring food and people back to Times Square was a godsend following Ian when the only place to get food was from the hurricane disaster relief centers, and when there was nowhere for people to unwind and gather following very hard days of disaster cleanup. Tom has demonstrated that he can, in fact, evacuate and thereby meet FEMA’s real intent of not having temporary structures on the island that can damage other structures that ultimately FEMA would have to pay for. Let’s continue to support La Ola who has done so much to support FMB’s recovery.